March 24th - 30th! Post-Godzilla Syndrome, Still-Relevant 60's Paranoia, and the Radiator Lady Spices Up Pabst Blue Ribbon! Let's F&*% On, Shall We?
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I'z back, Stockahz! Adversity is like a tin can to be kicked down a street straight outta a Don Siegel film! I don't know why that particular ref bubbled to the surface but I'm rolling with it. The site is active, the calendar is updated, and my musings are as follows. So let's dig in, shall we?
New and ongoing series include The Films of David Lynch at IFC Center; The Brit New Wave & Film Forum Jr. at Film Forum; Modern Matinees: Hollywood and the Great Depression, 1933 at MoMA; Cross-Dressing on Screen at Anthology Film Archives; Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema at the Japan Society; Martin Scorsese at Museum of the Moving Image; and Buster Keaton at Metrograph. The digs be thus:
Friday March 24th
IFC Center
ERASERHEAD (1977) Dir; David Lynch
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
Film Forum
A TASTE OF HONEY (1961) Dir; Tony Richardson
THE LONLINES OF HE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER (1962) Dir; Tony Richardson
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Hollywood and the Great Depression, 1933
MAN'S CASTLE (1933) Dir; Frank Borzage
New York Historical Society
WOMAN OF THE YEAR () Dir; George Cukor
Anthology Film Archives
SYLVIA SCARLETT (1936) Dir; George Cukor
FEMALE TROUBLE (1974) Dir; John Waters
Japan Society
Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema
THE H-MAN (1958) Dir; Ishiro Honda
Museum of the Moving Image
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974) Dir; Martin Scorsese
Landmark Jersey Loews
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)
Nitehawk Cinema
THE BLOB (1988) Dir; Chuck Russell
Today's Pick? Ishiro Honda's H-MAN! Because why not? I know nothing about it, I have no idea what it is. But it's screening as part of the Japan Society's excellent new series Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema! Sometimes that's all I need.
Saturday March 25th
Nitehawk Cinema
THE BLOB (1958) Dir; Irving S. Yeaworth
THE BLOB (1988) Dir; Chuck Russell
Metrograph
THREE AGES (1923) Dir; Buster Keaton
Film Forum
DARLING (1965) Dir; John Schlesinger
BILLY LIAR (1963) Dir; John Schlesinger
IFC Center
ERASERHEAD (1977) Dir; David Lynch
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) Dir; David Lynch
Anthology Film Archives
VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA (1933) Dir; Reinhold Schünzel
FIRST A GIRL (1935) Dir; Victor Saville
VICTOR/VICTORIA (1982) Dir; Blake Edwards
Landmark Jersey Loews
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964) Dir; John Frankenheimer
DR. STRANGELOVE, or HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964) Dir; Stanley Kubrick
Japan Society
Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema
LATITUDE ZERO (1969) Dir; Ishiro Honda
Toay's Pick? VERY tempted to endorse the Lynch trio this day, in particular because I consider them the essential triptych in his once-emerging oeuvre. However, they do not screen as a specially priced ticket, and two films not only timely but paired for a discounted tik this eve do, and are probably amongst the films Lynch considered influential to his own remarkable game. John Frankenheimer's SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, a procedural detailing a military coup of our American democracy, and S-Kube's DR. STRANGELOVE, detailing well if I haveta tell ya ya just gotta see for yerself, unspool in 35mm back-to-back at a discounted price at that reminder of a fairer age, the still-functioning movie palace in Jersey City, the Landmark Jersey Loews. What better, or cheaper way to celebrate the unraveling of the beacon of freedom for the world, I ask? Can't I just sell???
Sunday March 26th
IFC Center
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
DUNE (1984) Dir; David Lynch
ERASERHEAD (1977) Dir; David Lynch
Film Forum
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964) Dir; Richard Lester
THE KNACK...AND HOW TO GET IT (1965) Dir; Richard Lester
BILLY LIAR (1963) Dir; John Schlesinger
Nitehawk Cinema
THE BLOB (1958) Dir; Irving S. Yeaworth
Metrograph
THREE AGES (1923) Dir; Buster Keaton
Mid-Manhattan Library
WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950) Dir; John Farrow
Anthology Film Archives
OUTRAGEOUS! (1977) Dir; Richard Benner
Today's Pick? Okay, today I choose Lynch, the seperately-priced yet well-worth the cost trio of ERASERHEAD, his demented, still unequivocal debut; his one-time debacle DUNE, which I argue is an essential piece of cinema just as strongly as I did in 1984; and his industry-shattering, gamechanger BLUE VELVET, which I fear has accrued relic status when it should still be regarded as one of the most vibrant, dangerous acts of cinema ever committed. All screen at IFC Center as part of their great series The Films of David Lynch! Enjoy with a damn good cup of coffee.
Other notable Picks this week include the doubling up of Tony Richardson's LOOK BACK IN ANGER and THE ENTERTAINER, sadly not a two-fer but still essential, at Film Forum this Monday the 27th; John Huston's Oscar-winning THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, this Tuesday at Cinépolis; the non-doube bill of Reinhold Shünzel's VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA and its equally entertaining remake, Blake Edwards' VICTOR AND VICTORIA, Wednesday at Anthology Film Archives as part of their excellent series Cross-Dressing on Screen; and Lowell Sherman's SHE DONE HIM WRONG, which not only boasts the great Mae West's most iconic perf but is routinely, and mistakenly, cited as Cary Grant's film debut. It screens at MoMA as part of their ongoing Modern Matinees series, these last 2 months focusing on the Great Depression, the year 1933 in particular. Ah, better times.
Once again, there you have it, my picks and pontifications regarding your next 7 days' worth of rep filmgoing! We'll check in again a week from now, in the early days of a whole new spin 'round the sun, for the purposes of once more rummaging through the reels and making the tough yet wonderful choices regarding our chosen love. Til then be sure to follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and be SURE to catch my new YouTube channel, Nitrate Stock TV, where I'll be checking in at screenings all over the city and giving my 2 cents on the film, the venue, the audience, any damn thing that comes to my mind. Which, as some of ya know, can be quite entertaining. . Til next time Stockahz, remember: be safe, be sound, and make sure the next guy and gal are too. Excelsior!
- Joe Walsh
P. S. As you know I like to beat the drum for what I consider worthwhile causes. Xenophobia has sadly always been present in our country, mostly dormant, but at times very awoken and tangible. Sadly, the latter is the present case, and the subject of Syrian refugees has become a veritable powderkeg. To those of you who believe we can aid these people, our fellow human beings who are desperate for our help, I suggest the heroic efforts of the good men and women at DoctorsWithoutBorders. They're providing boots-on-the-ground relief, everything from surgery and medicine to clean water. It's a small something to be sure in this maelstrom of madness, but it is just that: something.
